S.C. Supreme Court asked to declare port permits illegal

Environmental groups on Tuesday filed a complaint with the S.C. Supreme Court that seeks to clarify which state agency has the authority to issue permits to deepen the Savannah River.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control issued the permits last year but in its filing the Southern Environmental Law Center argues that authority rests with the Savannah River Maritime Commission.

“DHEC had no authority to cut a backroom deal with Georgia and issue a permit for this destructive, wasteful project because the South Carolina Legislature gave authority over this matter to the Savannah River Maritime Commission in 2007,” Frank Holleman, a senior attorney at SELC said in a prepared statement. “We’re asking the South Carolina Supreme Court to declare that the DHEC Board acted unlawfully by usurping powers vested in the commission.”

SELC is representing four environmental groups in South Carolina and Georgia: The Conservation Voters of South Carolina, Savannah Riverkeeper, South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, and the South Carolina Wildlife Federation.

The permits, for water quality and construction in navigable waters, were controversial even before they were issued.

About a month after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued draft harbor deepening documents in late 2010, DHEC said it planned to deny the permits because the review period was too short. The state rescinded that denial when it became clear it had more than the 60-day public comment to complete its review and in fact had up to a year.

In late October 2011, DHEC staff formally recommended a denial, citing environmental damage from the plan to dredge 38 miles of river from 42 to up to 48 feet deep. But on Nov. 10, Gov. Nikki Haley’s appointees to the DHEC board approved a settlement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and DHEC staff.

S.C. lawmakers, who said Georgia’s plan would not only damage the river but also put South Carolina’s ports at a disadvantage, were outraged. They passed a resolution overturning the approval. Haley vetoed it. But last week lawmakers overwhelmingly overturned her veto.

“The General Assembly and the governor see the issue very differently,” said Chris DeScherer, a senior attorney with SELC. “If the Supreme Court ruled it would bring much needed clarity to the issue.”

It would also simplify the issue for the S.C. administrative law court, where both SELC and the Savannah River Maritime Commission have separately challenged DHEC’s decision.